“I could be leading after Lap 1″– Fernando Alonso thought he could go on to overtake Lewis Hamilton with perfect start in Qatar

Fernando Alonso thought he could overtake Lewis Hamilton at the start of the race as the Spaniard locks his first podium after seven years.

Fernando Alonso had a terrific start to his race in Qatar. At turn 1, the Spaniard overtook Pierre Gasly, who started the race from the front row, right behind Lewis Hamilton.

With soft tyres on, Alonso aimed to target Lewis Hamilton. However, the Briton managed to sustain the pressure and kept his lead. Further, in the race, Max Verstappen also had better off against Alonso.

In the end, the 40-year-old race driver had to settle with a P3 podium. Though he claims at the turn 1, he almost had Hamilton under his grasp.

“Seven years, but finally we got it,” said Alonso after the race. “We were close a couple of races but not enough. Today… honestly I thought I could be leading after Lap 1, I thought with the soft tyre I could go at Lewis but I couldn’t.”

“Then with Checo it was very close, but well done to the team. I was waiting so long for this… so I’m happy.”

Also read: Red Bull blames the light panel on the track for Max Verstappen’s 5-place grid penalty in maiden Qatar GP

Red Bull and Mercedes are again in deadlock

While Hamilton once again cropped Verstappen’s lead against himself. Red Bull also managed to gain in the constructors’ standings. So both teams had certain positive takeaways from the race.

Now, coming onto Jeddah, Toto Wolff is eager to race there. He believes the long straight in Saudi Arabia will help his team vie against Red Bull.

“Saudi should be a good one for us, it has a long straight. We’ll get our spicy equipment out, and the engine out. And hopefully Valtteri’s right up there. But anyway, if everybody finishes the race it’s going to Abu Dhabi,” said Wolff after the race.

Also read: Lewis Hamilton reacts to Max Verstappen getting five-place grid penalty